The Stillburrow Crush

"Told you it was good."

I snickered. "You know you look totally stupid doing that, don't you?" I lied. He really looked adorable, but I wasn't about to let him know that.

He stopped with the sounds and gave me a dirty look. When I didn't even attempt to try my share, he dished out a spoonful for me. My stomach did a little flip-flop when he held it up to my mouth, but there was no way I could refuse that bite. I opened up and squeezed my eyes shut. He muttered the word coward as he gave me a taste. I took my first mouthful. Cold ice cream and warm peanut butter mixed with the crunchy wafers. It was a different sensation than I expected but it grew on me. My teeth clinked on stainless steel as Luke pulled the spoon free. I heard him scoop up a second bite. OK, so it wasn't bad.

I opened my eyes and caught Luke watching me intently. When I shrugged, he chuckled. "I bet you wouldn't admit it if this was the best thing you ever tasted." I swallowed and dabbed at the corner of my mouth for crumbs. "It was fine," I said in my prim-and-proper voice.

"You loved it," he retorted.

78

The Stillburrow Crush

by Linda Kage

"I said it was good. What more do you want?" Luke continued to stare at me as if he expected an attack. I lifted my chin, meeting his challenging gaze. He really did have pretty eyes. The blue in them was so pure. But as I stared at them longer, I began to find little golden specks in the blue. And the black iris part had these lighter lines that angled in toward the center. I'd never examined someone's eyes so closely. Then I noticed he was staring at me just as intently.

I turned away slightly, dropping my gaze, and heard Luke clear his throat.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw him rub the back of his neck. "I thought we were supposed to be studying trigonometry," he said.

I nodded, still unable to meet his gaze. "I'll go get our bags."

I pressed my hand over my heart as I raced back into the living room. "Calm down, Carrie. Just...breathe." But I felt exhilarated. I wanted to dance. Luke Carter was in my house. He made me food, he spoon-fed me, and stood close enough to kiss me. There was no way I could calm down. I fa

"Where's your room?" I heard him call from the kitchen. I grabbed our packs and stood quickly, my eyes growing wide. "Why?" I yelled back, hoping desperately he wasn't searching for it, that he hadn't already found the pigsty which I called my lair.

79

The Stillburrow Crush

by Linda Kage

"Isn't that where we're going to study?" I raced to the kitchen and slumped against the doorframe when I saw him still there, leaning against the counter and gobbling down his ice cream creation. "What's wrong with the kitchen table," I said, winded from my run. He glanced up, set his bowl down on the table, and strolled over to slide his book bag off my shoulder. "What's wrong with your room?" he countered.

"I'm not going to let you see my room. Are you crazy?" His eyebrows shot up and he took a startled step back. "I guess so."

I plopped my heavy bag on the kitchen table with a thud and took a seat. Luke shrugged and sat next to me. I tried to ignore how close he was, but when his knee brushed mine under the table, my stomach took notice and started to churn.

"So how far are you behind?"

I winced while I pulled out my trig notebook and flipped it open. "I'm not sure. I started to get lost after the first week of class."

Luke blew out a breath. "Great," he said with a healthy lack of enthusiasm. He sighed and reached for my notebook.

"OK, let's check out the damage." As he sca

80

The Stillburrow Crush

by Linda Kage

"First of all," he said, "you should really do this in pencil. It's easier and a lot cleaner to erase, instead of having all these mark-out lines confusing you."

"OK," I said.

He looked at me expectantly. "OK," he repeated. "Where's your pencil?"

"Oh...right." I jumped from my chair. "Ah, let me go get one."

When I finally found one, I could tell he was laughing at me.

"What?"

"I can't believe you're a writer and you don't have a pencil," he said.

I shrugged. "I use pens."

After that, we got down to business. Luke polished off his sundae thing and when I was full he finished mine too. I was surprised to discover how good a tutor he was. He went through each step with me and if I didn't understand something, he explained it until I did. I was actually begi

Luke and I lifted our heads at the same time to watch Dad step inside. He was wearing his shop coveralls and looking dog-tired. I popped to my feet and grabbed the two empty bowls off the table as if they were some kind of incriminating evidence. I'd completely lost track of time and I think Luke had too because I saw him rub his eyes and check the clock on the wall.

"Hi, Dad," I said.

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The Stillburrow Crush

by Linda Kage

"Hello." His voice was chalky and garbled, like that was the first time he'd used it all day. And if he hadn't spoken today, then he probably hadn't had any customers to speak to. Ergo, business had been slow. He scrubbed his feet on the welcome mat, knowing Mom would scalp him if he left dirt on the floor, all the while his gaze darted between Luke and me. Unable to meet his eyes for some reason, I lowered my face and noticed what I was still holding. I rushed the bowls to the sink and began rinsing them. When I decided they were clean and it was safe enough to face my father without my cheeks going tomato red, I turned slowly and managed a half grin.

"Missed you in the shop today," he said, and his gaze slid to the source of the reason. Luke shifted and shoved his hands into his pockets.

I stepped forward. "Luke was helping me with my trigonometry." It sounded like I was trying to cover something up, which I wasn't because that was the God's honest truth. Luke had been helping me with my trigonometry.

My dad just nodded and stared.

Luke closed his notebook and shoved it into his bag. "Hi, Mr. Paxton," he said in a friendly fashion, but the speed with which he packed his things made us look just as guilty. And there was nothing for us to be guilty about. So I said, "Mr. Underhill said I had to have a tutor. So..." I glanced at Luke.

Dad nodded again and rocked back on his heels, remaining on the safety of the floor mat. Luke glanced from him to me 82

The Stillburrow Crush

by Linda Kage

and, for a moment, we all three just kind of stood there. Only my dad, I thought, would know how to show up at the worst possible time and ruin a great moment I was having. Luke hiked his bag onto his shoulder and said to me, "I better get going."

I nodded. "OK."

He started for the living room and I followed. Finally, my father began to thaw. He waved at Luke and smiled, saying,

"Thanks for giving Carrie a hand with her homework." I wanted to growl at him for being too late with his friendliness, but Luke returned the smile and said, "No problem."